Turn a foam ball into a cute button encrusted ornament. It's easy to do and the fun is in mixing and matching the different sorts of buttons you might have available to work with.

Steps

Part 1

Preparing the Foam Ball Base

1

Prepare the work space. Lay down an old cloth or towel on your work table or space.

2

Wrap a piece of cloth around the foam ball. This cloth should be in the base color that you want the bauble to reflect underneath. Choose Christmas colors such as red, green, silver or gold. Or, keep it plain and use either a white or cream fabric base. At this stage, just measure the fabric on the foam ball and mark where it is to be cut for fitting.

3

Cut the fabric for fitting along the marked lines. Then place it over the foam ball and glue in place. Push out any wrinkles that appear as you add the fabric, as it needs to lie flat against the foam ball. Allow to dry completely before moving on.

Part 2

Adding the Buttons to the Foam Ball

1

Determine how to lay out the buttons on the foam ball. They could be added in a pattern such as a circle, triangle, oval, rectangle, diamond or square. Or, they could b added in a shape such as a star, animal head or moon. Or, just add them randomly. In some cases, the buttons could be attached on a chain or cord to allow them to droop down over the edge of the foam ball.

Think about the colors of the buttons. They may be a mixture of colors or you could choose colors with a Christmas theme, such as reds, greens and golds. Either approach works.

Cords can be wrapped around and through the buttonholes to create different design aspects.

Keep the larger buttons and embellishment pieces toward the base of the foam ball, the smaller and lighter ones toward the top.

Consider what other embellishments can be added with the button bauble, such as beads, sequins, ribbon and/or lace. Work these into the pattern design.

2

Start adding the buttons to the foam ball. Glue or pin into place. if pinning with straight pins, simply push the pins through the button holes to keep in place. If the pin heads aren't large enough to keep the buttons in place, add a few pins.

If adding drooping button chains, pin the chain or cord onto the ball firmly, then arrange the placement of the button chain over the top of buttons already added onto the foam ball.

3

Finish up. Add glitter if you want to sparkle up the ornament (optional).

4

Make an ornament hook. Use ribbon, cord or lace, make a loop, and glue it down onto the top of the foam ball.

5

Finished. The button bauble ornament is now ready for hanging on the Christmas tree or anywhere else.